After lengthy delays, the UK government has finally announced that the controversial porn block will come into force on July 15.

People wanting to access pornographic images and videos online in the UK will have to prove they are over 18. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will be responsible for ensuring that websites comply with the new laws.

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From July 15, providers of online pornography will be required by law to carry out age-verification checks on all UK visitors to their websites. Websites that fail to implement age-verification technology by this date could be blocked in the UK, the government has said.

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Announcing the start date digital minister Margot James said the block would be a "world-first". The government has "taken the time to balance privacy concerns with the need to protect children from inappropriate content," she added.

These privacy concerns have come from internet advocates and free speech groups. It has been argued that companies checking ages will have to store huge amounts of sensitive personal information about individuals.

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In an attempt to appease critics, the government says the BBFC has worked with cybersecurity organisation NCC Group, the National Cybersecurity Centre and the data protection regulator the Information Commissioner's Office, to create a method of checking age verification tools. Systems that have been vetted for security and privacy issues will be allowed to use a green 'AV' badge and their details will be published on the age verification website.

The porn block, which was introduced in Digital Economy Act 2017, has been beset by delays. It was originally set to be introduced in April 2018, but was pushed back by the logistical complexity of enforcing the implementation of age-verification checks on all pornographic websites.

Getting past age verification checks won’t be a simple case of entering your name and date of birth. Sites are legally required to blocks to ensure that they can be certain anyone viewing pornography online is over the age of 18. Various systems have been developed, including verification by credit card, passport or driving license or a “porn pass” that can be purchased from a local shop.

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The government decided not to implement the porn block itself, but to leave it up to the industry to come up with solutions to meeting its age verification requirements. As a result, one of the most hyped solutions has been developed by, which owns Pornhub.

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Aside from concerns about censorship, critics have also argued that the porn block both won’t work and is based on shaky evidence. At the time it was announced, the policy was based heavily on an NSPCC report that claimed more than half of children and teenagers had accessed porn online by stumbling across it.

The report was based on responses to a survey carried out by a marketing agency and there is no actual evidence that a policy of hiding all pornographic material behind verification checks will have any positive effect.

In fact, it's unlikely to do much to hide porn at all. Confusingly, while the porn block will restrict access to sites like Pornhub, it won’t stop people under the age of 18 in the UK from viewing pornographic content on Reddit and Twitter, both of which allow the uploading and sharing of such material. And there's also the option of a good VPN to get around all age checks.